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Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), known professionally as Rihanna is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, actress, and fashion designer. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, her career began upon meeting record producer Evan Rogers in late 2003 through mutual friends; she recorded demo tapes with his guidance. Her tape was sent to several record labels, and she subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its then-president, hip-hop producer and rapper Jay-Z. Both her debut album, Music of the Sun (2005) and its follow-up A Girl Like Me (2006) peaked in the top ten on the US Billboard 200; the former featured the commercially successful song "Pon de Replay" while the latter produced her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "SOS". She rose to widespread prominence and became a household name with the release of her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), and its chart-topping lead single "Umbrella". The album and its 2008 Reloaded re-release were nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella". From 2009 to 2012, following a highly publicized altercation with then-boyfriend, entertainer Chris Brown, she annually released four Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) platinum certified albums: Rated R (2009), Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011), and her first Billboard 200 number one album Unapologetic (2012). The same year, she appeared in her first theatrical feature film, Battleship. Rihanna has sold over 41 million albums and 150 million songs worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. Many of her songs rank among the world's best-selling singles of all time, such as "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Disturbia", "Only Girl (In the World)", "S&M", "We Found Love", "Diamonds" and "Stay". In addition to her solo work, Rihanna has collaborated with other artists and was featured on the worldwide hits "Can't Remember to Forget You" (with Shakira), "Live Your Life" (with T.I.), "Run This Town" (with Jay-Z and Kanye West), "Love the Way You Lie" and "The Monster" (both with Eminem). She has achieved thirteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the youngest and fastest solo artist to accomplish this record. Billboard named her the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade and the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade. Rihanna is known for frequently reinventing her style and image, most notably since Good Girl Gone Bad. Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including eight Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, 23 Billboard Music Awards, and two BRIT Awards. In 2012, Forbes ranked her the fourth most powerful celebrity of the year, with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012. The same year, TIME named Rihanna one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. At the American Music Awards of 2013, she received the first ever Icon Award. On June 2, 2014, Rihanna received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Early Life Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. Her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is a retired accountant of Afro-Guyanese background, and her father, Ronald Fenty, is a warehouse supervisor of Barbadian and Irish descent. Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father's side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships. She grew up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. Rihanna's childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack, cocaine and alcohol. By the time she was fourteen, her parents had divorced. Rihanna grew up listening to reggae music and began singing at around the age of seven. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere High School, where she studied alongside future England cricketer Chris Jordan and formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme; the singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant. Although she initially wanted to graduate from high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead. Career 2003-2004: Beginnings Before signing to Def Jam Recordings, Rihanna was discovered in her home country Barbados by American record producer Evan Rogers. The two met in December 2003 through mutual friends of Rihanna's and Rogers' wife, while the couple was on vacation in Barbados, because Rihanna's friend told Rogers' wife that the aspiring singer was always singing and performing. After meeting for the first time, Rogers' asked Rihanna to come to his hotel room, where she performed renditions of Destiny's Child's "Emotion" and Mariah Carey's "Hero". Rihanna's renditions impressed Rogers, who then took her to New York, accompanied by her mother, to record some demo tapes which could be sent to record labels. She recorded the demo over the next year intermittently, due to Rihanna only being able to record during school holidays. At the age of 16, Rihanna was signed to Rogers' and Carl Sturken's production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions, who assigned her a lawyer and manager, before the completed demo tape were distributed to various record labels around the world in late 2004. The first to respond to the demo tape was Jay-Z, who had recently been appointed as president and Chief executive officer (CEO) of Def Jam Recordings. He was given Rihanna's demo by A&R Jay Brown, but when Jay-Z heard the track "Pon de Replay", he felt the song was too big for her, saying "when a song is that big, it's hard a new artist to come back from. I don't sign songs, I sign artists". Despite being skeptical about signing Rihanna, he invited her to audition for him and music mogul L.A. Reid, in his office. Looking back on the audition and meeting Jay-Z, Rihanna explained that "when we first got there, I was shaking. I had never met a celebrity, and to have to audition for one and meet him at the same time ... I was hysterical. But the minute I went in the office, it was totally different. He was so welcoming; the environment was so warm and friendly. The jitters just went away immediately." During the audition, Rihanna performed Whitney Houston's cover of "For the Love of You" (1987), as well as "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time", which were written and produced by Rogers and Sturken and would be included on her debut album Music of the Sun. Jay- Z stated about Rihanna's audition that "from meeting her at four p.m. in the office till three in the morning, I was absolutely certain. ... When she walked in the office, it was something about her. She performed the song, and I was like, 'OK.'" The audition resulted in Rihanna signing a six-album record deal with Def Jam in February 2005, on the same day of the audition to prevent her from signing with another label. After signing to Def Jam, Rihanna cancelled other meetings with record labels and relocated from Barbados to New York to live with Rogers and his wife. In May 2005, she appeared on the track "The One" with rapper Memphis Bleek on his fourth studio album 534 and released her debut single, "Pon de Replay", which charted successfully worldwide, peaking in the top five in fifteen countries, including at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart. 2005-2008: Early Releases & Good Girl Gone Bad Rihanna worked with different producers to complete her debut studio album, primarily Rogers and his production partner Carl Sturken. Music of the Sun, was released in August 2005. It debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over 500,000 units. The album sold over two million copies worldwide. It received mixed reviews; Rolling Stone gave it two and a half out of five stars and described as lacking replay value, ingenuity, and rhythm. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as a "glut of teen R&B chanteuses" and described her lead single as "a dancehall-pop mixture that owes plenty of its sweat and shimmy to Beyoncé's "Baby Boy".27 A second single, "If It's Lovin' that You Want", was not as successful as its predecessor, but reached the top ten in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.30 Aside from her work in music, Rihanna made her acting debut in a cameo role in the straight-to-DVD film Bring It On: All or Nothing, released in August 2006. A month after the release of her debut album, Rihanna began working on her second studio album. A Girl Like Me was released in April 2006. The album was a commercial success, charting in the top ten in thirteen countries. The album reached number one in Canada and number five in the United Kingdom and United States, where it sold 115,000 copies its first week. Its lead single, "SOS", was an international success, charting in the top five in eleven countries, including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and in Australia, her first to reach this chart position. "Unfaithful", the album's second single, reached the top ten in eighteen countries, including number one in Canada and Switzerland. "We Ride" and "Break It Off", the latter featuring Sean Paul, were also released as singles. Following the release of the album, Rihanna embarked on her first headlining tour, the Rihanna: Live in Concert Tour. In early 2007, Rihanna began work on her third studio album. For her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna embraced a new musical direction through uptempo dance tracks produced by Timbaland, will.i.am and Sean Garrett. Released in May 2007, the album charted at number two in Australia and the US and topped the charts in multiple countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Russia and the UK. The album received the most positive critical reviews of her first three albums. The lead single, "Umbrella", topped the charts in thirteen countries and remained number one in the UK for ten consecutive weeks, the longest-running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994. It was Rihanna's first single to be named one of the best-selling singles worldwide, with sales of over 6.6 million copies. The songs "Shut Up and Drive", "Hate That I Love You" featuring Ne-Yo, and "Don't Stop The Music" were also released as singles. In support of the album, she began the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour in September 2007, with 80 shows across the US, Canada, and Europe. Rihanna was nominated for several 2008 Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella" alongside Jay-Z. Throughout 2008, Rihanna performed on the Glow in the Dark Tour alongside Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and N.E.R.D. Her third studio album's reissue, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, was released in June 2008 with three new songs: "Disturbia", "Take a Bow", and the Maroon 5 duet "If I Never See Your Face Again". All three were released as singles and charted highly, reaching peak positions worldwide. In August 2008, Rihanna and a host of other female singers, recorded the charity single "Just Stand Up!", the theme song to the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer. "Live Your Life", a duet between T.I. and Rihanna, released that November, and topped the Billboard Hot 100. A remix album, Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes, was released in January 2009. Good Girl Gone Bad has sold over 2.8 million units in the United States alone, receiving a two-times-platinum certification from the RIAA. It is Rihanna's best-selling album in the country to date. The album has sold over seven million copies worldwide. By late 2008, Rihanna remained on the charts with her eighth single, "Rehab" and was named "Diva of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly for her "newfound staying power". Category:Celebrities Category:Singers Category:Actresses